Creature of Darkness
by LydiaofNarnia
Summary: Courfeyrac never knew how Marius saved his life- and that's alright, because he was never supposed to anyway. Three-shot
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey, guys! Yes, I'm alive- I know, I know, I haven't posted on my Amigas story in over a month. Well, it's being re-written! So, yeah, I'll go into more detail over there when I'm finally done, but just bear with me on this.**

**Anyway, this is my contribution for Halloween- very, very late. This story is inspired in no small part by ColonelDespard's fantastic story **_**The Sleep Of Reason, **_**and by a rather infamous conversation on the Abaisse about Marius and his vampiric traits. So, here we go with a three-shot- I love vampires, so hopefully I don't disappoint.**

They did not simply live in the darkness; the darkness was their dwelling, true- the place where they flourished, where they thrived, the place where they consumed all light in their path, the place where they stole life, extinguished it entirely or worse. But the darkness was more; they were the darkness themselves. It had become a part of them over the many long years; a part of their essence, their very core, their very being. They consisted of darkness; it had invaded their minds, crept into their hearts like a foul shadow intent on destroying all purity, and it had taken them.

They were the darkness, and their enemy was light; and that was why when she saw him, she knew immediately that he had to be eliminated.

Where she was death, darkness and decay, he was the exact opposite. He exuded warmth, the type of light that she had never known before, he was mere flesh and bone and blood but he was so much more, he was joy and he was warmth and he was _life_, and the moment she saw him she despised him more than any being that she had ever known.

She stalked him for about a week- he wasn't one she could just kill quickly and forget, no matter how she wanted to. As much as she hated him, she knew that he was special, and she needed to observe him.

His friends did not appeal to her- the only one that even remotely stood out was the one with a halo around his golden head, the youthful angel whom she was afraid would burn her skin if she even tried to touch him. She left him alone. While her target was Life, his friend was _Hope_, and while she despised Hope as well, something held her back from him. Whether it was the natural instinctive knowledge that touching him would lead to all sorts of trouble that she wasn't prepared for or a distant memory from long ago, back when her skin was pink and blood still ran through her veins, of a little curly headed child with bright blue eyes sitting on her lap who answered to the name of _Hope_, she was unsure. But she let him be, all the same.

Her opportunity did come, just as she knew it would. It came in the early hours of morning, when the streets were nigh deserted and the shadows came to life. The boy, out for a night with his friends, was stumbling home drunk. Wandering the streets alone and drunk at night was a particularly bad idea, as the boy would soon learn, but through her watching she had seen that wiser heads had abandoned the group near midnight. And so alone he was- and there were no prying eyes to see her as she stepped out from the shadows, almost like an apparition.

The boy was clearly shocked; his wide green eyes, slightly glazed from the effects of the drink but nevertheless alert, met hers intently for one moment and she was suddenly terrified that he would not follow, and somehow she did not think, that after making such eye contact, that she would be able to pursue him. This wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to feel for her dinner. They were nourishment; essential for her life, and nothing more. Still, she used the eye contact, the sudden familiarity to her advantage; and she connected with him, forced her way into his mind- she took control.

With one fluid, sudden movement her hand extended out, reaching towards him. Ever so slowly she beckoned him, and as she backed into the dark alley there was no question of whether he would follow. He was completely under her spell now, and she felt the rush of adrenaline which was so familiar to her; the type that comes when you're about to get a good meal.

"What is your name?" He murmured, the quiet of his voice not masking the evident slur, undoubtedly heightened by the effects of they hypnotism he was under.

"Elisabeth," she breathed, and he pulled her close to him, his hand on her waist, and she allowed him to as she saw his sweet neck growing closer and closer, and it was all she could do not to end it right there.

"You are beautiful," he said, and she smiled, pressing her body up against him and leaning her head into the crook of his neck. She could feel his pulse race, she could hear his heart beating in his chest- a slow, rhythmic sound that she allowed herself to be lost in as she leaned her head in closer and closer, for the perfect bite. _Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump._

Suddenly she was aware of a presence behind her, but it was all too late. Strong hands seized her shoulders and heaved her back, away from the unwitting student's beautiful throat. She was flung into the wall of a building behind her, and she gasped at the impact.

"Leave him," growled a voice, and looking up she immediately recognized the pale, dark haired man as being one of her kind. Her eyes narrowed challengingly, and he hissed. "He is mine," snarled the vampire, and the look in his eyes made it clear- he would fight her for it, and based on his size and the way he had hurled her into that wall, she knew who the winner would be.

"Fine," she hissed, and within seconds she was gone, slinking back into the shadows whence she came to look for her next meal somewhere else.

The new vampire then turned on the student. Through very minimal work, he was easily able to terminate the female's connection with him and replace it with one of his own.

"Courfeyrac," he said to the man, ignoring how uncomfortable he felt being in control of his friend like this, "you ought to be home. I'll escort you there."

With a dazed nod, Courfeyrac allowed the other man to lead him back to his apartment- unseeing and unhearing except for the darkness that a vampire's possession brings.

The next morning, Courfeyrac woke to find that he had no memory of what had happened after leaving Bossuet, Grantaire and Joly at the Corinthe, and Marius asleep on his couch.

"Marius," he murmured quietly, shaking his friend's shoulder. "Marius, wake up now. Come Marius, I know that you're in the habit of sleeping until God knows when, but this is important. Wake up!"

After several failed attempts to rouse him, Courfeyrac was finally forced to resort to splashing cold water on his friend's face, waking him with a jolt. "Courfeyrac!" Marius exclaimed, shivering as he attempted to wipe the water from his eyes. "Why-"

"Marius," said Courfeyrac, an uncharacteristically perturbed expression on his face. "I'm sorry to wake you so suddenly, but this is in fact rather important. I- don't suppose you have any idea what happened last night?" He couldn't help but smirk a bit at Marius's gawking expression. "I know I had a bit of fun last night, but I can't say I remember drinking so much that I wouldn't remember. And I know you have a habit of getting a bit confused at times, but it seems that this is in fact my apartment instead of yours, and I am quite curious as to how you got here."

And so Marius rather awkwardly explained the entire story- how Courfeyrac had appeared outside of _his _apartment, staggering drunk, and how Marius barely had a bed of his own and so he clearly couldn't allow Courfeyrac to stay at his place, and thus escorted his friend back to his own apartment before passing out of his couch. Courfeyrac, having no memory of the events in question and thus no reason not to believe Marius's claims, simply nodded his understanding.

When he noticed the two small imprint marks on his neck- marks that looked almost as if they were from teeth, which didn't seem to have broken skin but only just- he didn't say anything. Having worried poor Marius so much last night, he certainly didn't want to cause him anymore trouble by bringing up two mysterious marks. After all, he severely doubted that Marius would know anything at all about them.

**AN: There'll be two more after this- so, more Vamparius, yay! And no, Courfeyrac is not a vampire now.**

**Love and Fangs- Lydia**


	2. Chapter 2

She didn't expect to see him again. It was all luck, really, her running in to him again- luck for her, of course. And luck too, she supposed, for the girl that she had marked out to be her meal that night.

She had stalked the girl- a pretty young thing, rosy and plump with small hands and feet and dark eyes like a fortune teller's- as she left her tailoring shop for her apartment that night. She had marked the girl out immediately when she had gone into the shop to scope it out; such a bright young creature caught her attention almost instantly. And so she followed the girl through the shadows of the night, just waiting until she was alone…

And then she caught sight of Him.

He was exactly the same as she remembered him being; so cheerful, carrying the appearance of a carefree charm and lightheartedness that she so despised. He was clearly sober this time around; so what he would be doing at nearly ten at night, alone, was beyond even her. But it was him and he was alone and oh so very vulnerable, and so she let the girl go on her way as she honed in on him.

She stalked him as well; trailing in the shadows as he vanished behind a large brick building of some sort and following him as he stopped, clearly waiting for someone else to arrive.

She couldn't wait anymore. It had been at least a month now since she had first seen him, and the fact that he still breathed grated on her- grated on her enough to make her reckless. But she simply couldn't wait any longer. She had to strike.

"Odd place for a midnight rendezvous," she commented wryly, abandoning the airy tones which she had used for their first meeting in favor of her natural dry rasp. The student's head shot up in alarm, and he unwittingly took a step back. She couldn't help but smile at his shock.

"Who are you?" He asked, the narrowing of his eyes in suspicion only serving to confirm to her that he was up to something that he shouldn't be back here, and her eyes were drawn to the several pamphlets she had seen him tuck into his coat pocket.

She laughed, a sharp, malicious hissing sound, completely absent of any of the joy the boy's laugh so readily possessed. She hadn't really expected him to remember her- the memory of a vampire easily fades over time, and he would naturally have no memory of his period of hypnosis. But even so, the opportunity to instill fear into his young heart, to freeze the blood in his veins and turn his face white with terror moments before ending his life was simply too tantalizing to resist.

"Who am I, you ask? Who am I? Oh, I am offended! I had thought you would remember me! No matter, I suppose- introductions are not so much of a bother to me." She took several steps closer, causing the student to back up even more until she had nearly cornered him against the wall. "You want to know who I am? Then I will tell you. I am the entity that haunts man's darkest nightmares. I am the ghost that stalks you from the shadows of the darkness, I am the demon that resides under small children's beds and causes them to scream out in the night. I am the eyes which you feel watching you when you lie in bed in the eve, ready to strike, to sting, to claw at your flesh and seep out your blood until you are no more. I am pure darkness, decay, I am death and I have watched you. I have followed you, observing your every movement. I have seen your interactions with your closest friends, with your beloved family, and I have watched you even when you are alone in your rooms, thumbing through books or detailing illegal pamphlets of the sort. Perhaps you've noticed me- in fact, I'm almost certain that you have. That chill on the back of your neck when you sit alone, all doors and windows shut tightly- that's me. Yes, I have watched you Monsieur Courfeyrac. I almost had you once, but you managed to slip away. But you won't this time- yes, I have you now."

As she spoke, the student's face rapidly cycled through a series of expressions, each all too familiar to her. There was confusion, as her first words began to seep in- really, humans were so slow at times- and then this gradually melted away into fear, a pale-faced, wide-eyed horror that made her adrenaline surge as she could almost taste his blood on her lips. Then anger, at the prospect of being stalked- and finally, just cold, pure fear. That's how it always was, ultimately. In the end, there was never anything other than fear, and seeing him realize this made her smile.

"Are you scared? You ought to be. These are, after all, your final moments, and if you felt anything else then I wouldn't be doing my job."

The brick connected with his head and her dinner dropped like a stone, hitting the pavement hard. Her eyes flashed up in alarm to register the boy behind him, the one who had moved so silently and swiftly that even she hadn't been aware of him at first, and she abruptly recognized him as the one who had ruined her plans the last time.

"_You_!" She exclaimed, and the boy's expression of shock at what he had just done to his friend immediately transformed into pure rage.

"I warned you," he hissed, suddenly right in front of her. "I _warned_ you."

She sneered. "And I should be afraid of you, young vampire? Why, pray tell, should I heed your warnings any more than I heed the pleas for life of my victims? You will not hurt me." And she said this with such confidence that she was actually able to believe it, especially when an expression of almost boyish bewilderment flashed across the male vampire's face, only to be replaced with fury once more.

"I will hurt you," he said, "if you lay one finger on this man, then I will hurt you. Go, do as you wish- but leave him."

She narrowed her eyes, baring her teeth and revealing her sharp incisors, stained copper from decades of feeding. "Who will make me?"

The boys eyes darkened to almost fully black. "Do you know," he hissed, his face mere inches from hers, "who I was turned by?"

"Now how could I possibly know that?"

"I was turned by my father," continued the vampire. "And do you know who he was turned by?"

"Who?"

The boy's face stretched into a terrifying smile. "He was turned by Napoleon himself! Napoleon the Great turned my father! The Great Emperor turned my father! And my father turned _me_!"

Elisabeth's eyes widened, and instinctively she withdrew several steps. Napoleon Bonaparte had been, for a time, Emperor of all vampires. He remained one of the most powerful and the most feared. The mere mention of his name was enough to cause most vampires, especially those who had lived through his reign, to cower in fear.

"_No_!" She breathed, her dark eyes wide in disbelief. The boy simply nodded.

"Yes."

With a short gasp, she turned and fled off into the night, once again vanishing as suddenly as she had appeared.

The next morning, Courfeyrac woke with three things quite out of the ordinary; a sharp headache, a troubling lump of the back of his head, and a Marius sleeping on his couch again.

Marius's story was quite simple this time- he had for some reason been poking around behind a building and had fallen and hit his head. Marius, who had just happened to be passing by, had heard the crash and come running to find Courfeyrac unconscious. He had helped Courfeyrac back to his apartment and once again had fallen asleep on his couch.

"You know," Courfeyrac commented with a sigh, "I'm beginning to not even be surprised anymore. I _do_ have a spare mattress, you know. Or," he raised his eyebrows teasingly, "you could always join me in my bed."

Marius's face flushed a satisfying shade of red and Courfeyrac was pleased. but still, something did not add up.

"Marius," he said, a frown creasing his brow, "there is one odd thing- very odd. I seem to remember- I know I remember- a girl speaking to me. She went on and on, about how she was a creature of nightmares, about how she had been watching me, about how she would kill me… you don't… know anything about that, do you? You did not see anything?"

Marius's face paled to a shade of grey equal to Courfeyrac's pallor acquired from even speaking of he experience. "A dream, surely," he frowned uneasily, his voice low. "Only a dream."

"Yes," Courfeyrac nodded, his friend's odd reaction suddenly disturbing him. "Only a dream. Of course."

**AN: Why do I always write these at two in the morning?**

**Also, cameo here- see if you can guess who from!**


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